Pilot Books for Kids · 83 titles considered

The Best Pilot Books for Kids

By the Bookroo Editors
Updated July 25, 2026

Every pilot story starts the same way: somebody looks up. What happens next is what separates these books from every other shelf about things that go — a person straps in, and the machine does whatever that person tells it to. That is the part children fasten onto. Not the wingspan, not the engine, but the fact that a human being decided to leave the ground and then had to figure out how to come back.

Bookroo’s collection of 83 pilot books runs from the first airplane a toddler can name to a Roald Dahl memoir about flying Hurricanes over Greece. Most of the best ones are true: a Chicago manicurist who had to learn French to get a license no American school would give her, a bush pilot reading the weather over the Arctic, a woman who took Eleanor Roosevelt up over Washington in an evening gown. Start with our fifteen favorites below, then use the age shelves — takeoff-and-landing board books for the youngest, picture-book biographies for the years of endless questions, and longer flying stories for readers ready to go alone.

Talkin' About Bessie
Series
Series
Graphic Nov.
The Shortlist

Our 15 Favorite Pilot Books for Kids

Sale price
$759
Board Book · Ages 2–5 · 1938

The Little Airplane

By Lois Lenski · The Little series

A pilot checks over every part of his little red plane, takes off — and then the flight stops going to plan.

32 pages
Best for
The youngest child who wants to be the one flying
3.7/5 Goodreads · 315 ratings
$7.99Save 5%
Board book
Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2008

Violet the Pilot

A young inventor's flying machine could change everything at the Air Show and beyond.

40 pages· 860 words· Est. 7 min read-aloud
Best for
The kid building an aircraft out of junk in the garage
5.4/7 Bookroo·4.3/5 Goodreads · 1,071 ratings
$17.99Save 6%
Hardcover
Picture Book · Ages 5–8 · 1983

The Glorious Flight

Witness the daring first cross-Channel flight that changed aviation history forever.

Caldecott Medal (1984)
40 pages
Best for
The child who wants to know who flew across water first
5.0/7 Bookroo·3.9/5 Goodreads · 3,196 ratings
$8.99Save 5%
Paperback
Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 1998

Talkin' About Bessie

Twenty people who knew her stand up at her funeral and tell the story of the first Black woman to earn a pilot’s license.

48 pages· 5,020 words· Est. 39 min read-aloud
Best for
Older picture-book readers ready for a real biography
4.2/5 Goodreads · 707 ratings
$18.99Save 5%
Hardcover
Picture Book · Ages 7–10 · 1999

Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride

Two iconic women defy convention for a daring night flight adventure.

40 pages· 1,176 words· Est. 10 min read-aloud
Best for
A short true story with an unimprovable premise
4.2/5 Goodreads · 1,483 ratings
$19.99Save 5%
Hardcover
Picture Book · Ages 5–8 · 2014

The Pilot and the Little Prince

The pilot who flew the mail over the Sahara, crashed in the desert, and wrote a book about a small boy from a distant planet.

48 pages· 3,368 words· Est. 26 min read-aloud
Best for
Children who already love The Little Prince
4.0/5 Goodreads · 1,140 ratings
$18.99Save 5%
Hardcover
Picture Book · Ages 7–9 · 2002

Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot

A pilot's candy drop brings hope to children in blockaded Berlin.

48 pages· 2,364 words· Est. 19 min read-aloud
Best for
Talking about kindness during a history unit
5.5/7 Bookroo·4.4/5 Goodreads · 794 ratings
$17.95Save 5%
Hardcover
Picture Book · Ages 4–8 · 2021

The Fearless Flights of Hazel Ying Lee

By Julie Leung, Julie Kwon (Illustrator)

A fearless woman defies odds to become a pioneering WWII pilot.

48 pages
Best for
A pilot biography most classrooms have never heard of
4.4/5 Goodreads · 332 ratings
$18.99Save 5%
Hardcover
Picture Book · Ages 3–7 · 2023

Freddie the Flyer

A boy watches a plane land at his family’s remote bush camp and grows up to spend seventy years flying the Arctic.

32 pages
Best for
Showing a child what a working pilot’s year actually looks like
4.1/5 Goodreads · 76 ratings
$17.99Save 6%
Hardcover
Picture Book · Ages 6–9 · 2018

Thirty Minutes Over Oregon

A WWII pilot returns to the U.S. decades later seeking forgiveness.

40 pages· 1,717 words· Est. 14 min read-aloud
Best for
A first conversation about forgiveness after war
4.3/5 Goodreads · 737 ratings
$17.99Save 6%
Hardcover
Chapter Book · Ages 8–12 · 2014

Lindbergh

A lone mouse must learn to fly to escape a world of traps and cats.

96 pages· 1,550 words· Est. 13 min read
Best for
Readers who want to look at every page twice
4.5/5 Goodreads · 2,045 ratings
$19.95Save 5%
Hardcover
Chapter Book · Ages 8–12 · 2023

Above the Trenches

Young Americans defy neutrality, joining WWI's skies as daring pilots.

128 pages· 9,128 words· Est. 1.5 hour read
Best for
The graphic-novel reader who wants the dogfights
4.3/5 Goodreads · 878 ratings
$15.99Save 6%
Hardcover
Chapter Book · Ages 8–12 · 2018

Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen?

The first Black military pilots in the United States had to win an argument on the ground before they were allowed to fight in the air.

112 pages· 8,148 words· Est. 1 hour read
Best for
A biography report or a first Black-history flight unit
4.3/5 Goodreads · 524 ratings
$6.99Save 4%
Paperback
Chapter Book · Ages 10–14 · 2019

Born to Fly

By Steve Sheinkin, Bijou Karman (Illustrator)

Fearless women pilots race across America in a daring 1929 air derby.

288 pages· 50,474 words· Est. 5.5 hour read
Best for
Middle graders who want nonfiction that reads like a thriller
4.3/5 Goodreads · 653 ratings
$21.99Save 5%
Hardcover
Chapter Book · Ages 10–+ · 1986

Going Solo

A young man takes a job in East Africa, joins the RAF with almost no training, and crash-lands in the desert.

210 pages· 57,477 words· Est. 8 hour read
Best for
Strong readers ten and up, and reluctant ones who like Dahl
4.1/5 Goodreads · 34,372 ratings
$8.99Save 5%
Paperback
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Browse by age

Pilot Board Books for Babies and Toddlers

Sturdy first books about climbing into the cockpit, taking off, and getting safely back down again — ages 0–3.

Airplane Pilot

Ages 0–2 · 2021

Join a daring flight adventure from takeoff to landing with a brave bear captain.

Sale price
$799

I am Unstoppable

Ages 2–5 · 2019

Discover the daring spirit of a legendary pilot in a fun, interactive way.

Star Wars: I Am a Pilot

Ages 2–5 · 2016

Join daring pilots in a galaxy of epic battles and adventures.

View all pilot board books
Browse by age

Picture Books About Pilots and Flying

Read-alouds about first flights and homemade flying machines, plus picture-book biographies of the aviators who crossed oceans, deserts, and everyone’s low expectations — ages 3–8.

Wood, Wire, Wings

Ages 6–10 · 2020

A self-taught engineer strives to design a working airplane in the early 1900s.

Nobody Owns the Sky

Ages 4–8

A young woman defies the odds to become a pioneering aviator.

Amelia Earhart

Ages 4–7 · 2016

A daring aviator dreams of flying around the world.

Daredevil

Ages 4–8 · 2013

A girl defies norms, conquering skies and racetracks.

Lighter than Air

Ages 6–9 · 2017

A shy woman defies norms to become the first female pilot in 18th-century France.

Jack Knight's Brave Flight

Ages 7–10 · 2022

A pilot braves a blizzard to save the US Air Mail Service. Can he succeed against the odds?

Night Flight

Ages 4–8 · 2011

Witness the daring solo flight that made history in 1932.

Sale price
$1699

I am Amelia Earhart

Ages 5–8 · 2014

A young girl defies expectations and pursues her dream of flying.

The Flying Girl

Ages 4–8 · 2018

A young girl defies norms to become the first woman to pilot a motorized aircraft.

Pilot Pups

Ages 4–8 · 2008

Forgotten toys spark a daring rescue mission. Can the Pilot Pups save the day?

This is Captain Marvel

Ages 0–8 · 2024

An ordinary pilot transforms into a powerful hero. How?

Love Is in the Air
Sale price
$1899

Love Is in the Air

Ages 5–8 · 2023

A young woman defies norms to become a pioneering WWII pilot.

Browse by age

Pilot Chapter Books, Biographies & Middle Grade

Air races, wartime squadrons, rescue flights, and full-length biographies of record-setting pilots, for independent readers ages 6–12.

Star Wars: Jedi Academy

Ages 8–11 · 2013

Denied Pilot School, Roan's fate changes at Jedi Academy. Can he master the Force and middle school challenges?

The Wright Brothers

Ages 10–13 · 1991

Two brothers defy gravity, launching the Age of Flight.

Candy Bomber

Ages 9–12 · 2010

A pilot drops candy to lift spirits in blockaded Berlin.

Nate Saint

Ages 10–14 · 1998

A pilot's final flight opens a path to faith in the Ecuadorian jungle.

Sale price
$2199

Skyward

Ages 12–17 · 2018

A determined girl uncovers a secret that could help her become a pilot in a war-torn world.

Across the Desert

Ages 9–12 · 2021

A girl races against time to save a stranded pilot in the Arizona desert.

Who Were the Wright Brothers?

Ages 8–11 · 2014

Two brothers defy gravity, inventing the first successful airplane.

Raid of No Return
#7 in Series
Graphic Nov.
Sale price
$1599

Raid of No Return

Ages 8–12 · 2017

A daring WWII mission: bombers launch from a carrier, risking all for a secret strike on Tokyo.

Who Was Amelia Earhart?

Ages 8–12 · 2002

A biography of Amelia Earhart's life and disappearance during her attempted flight around the world.

Sale price
$1999

Cytonic

Ages 12–17 · 2021

A pilot must uncover her true nature to stop a galaxy-wide war.

Star Wars: Pirate's Price

Ages 8–12 · 2019

Join a daring space adventure with a pirate, a Wookiee, and a legendary ship.

Sale price
$699

Amelia Earhart

Ages 10–17 · 2007

Discover the daring journey of a trailblazing aviatrix who defied the skies and changed history forever.

Keep exploring
Books about aviationBooks about flightBooks about airplanesBooks about flying machinesBooks about airportsBooks about helicoptersBooks about hot air balloonsBooks about female pilotsBooks about military pilotsBooks about the Wright brothersBooks about astronautsBooks about spaceBooks about inventorsBooks about World War IIBooks about courageBooks about jobs and careersBooks about transportation

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